There’s a scene in the film The Iron Lady in which Margaret Thatcher is chairing a cabinet meeting just ferociously. Hardly anyone dares speak, and when they do she slaps them down. There is an edge of desperation in the way she wields her power so absolutely. It is a classic portrayal of how someone who was once seen by her followers as inspirational has turned into their despotic oppressor. You see this same narrative trajectory in the relationship between directors and their choirs.
It is a fascinating post that unpacks “charismatic authority,” a “form of authority that positioned itself explicitly outside the established power structures, and in opposition to them . . . The critical edge essential to charisma relies on some sense of urgency, injustice, righteousness in the face of an inhumane or at least misguided establishment. This is what provides the moral impetus that fuels both the commitment to the cause and the bonding and emotional buzz of communion.”
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